While every fan of the NFL rejoices the end of one of the shortest, yet ugliest eras in the game’s history, there remains the permanent black cloud of concussions and head trauma looming over the league’s head. For former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon, the effects of his playing days leave him suffering from early dementia and have forced him to look at the game from a different perspective.

The man under center for those 1986 “Super Bowl Shuffle” Bears says he wishes he would have chosen baseball instead of football. “That was my first love, was baseball, and had I had a scholarship to play baseball, I probably would have played just baseball,” he told FOX affiliate, WFLD-TV. “But football paid for everything, it still does. That Super Bowl XX team is still as popular as it ever was. Until they win again, we’re gonna still make money.”

Jimmy Mac notes the condition does have its frustrating effects of memory loss, but he’s doing all he can to keep his brain active such as reading and attending charity events. Losing one’s memory sucks because it’s the sole trait, ideally, a person can take with them as they get older. Physical appearance fades, health gets more complicated but memories are supposed to represent the flowers to the soul’s garden.

There are plenty of reasons, but trying to reduce head injuries is one thing I’ve never really been anti-Roger Goodell on. The game does need to be safer to an extent. While it is fun to witness big hits, run to Twitter and boast about them, there does have to be some regard for player safety in a game that’s as violent as it is addictive. The sight of grown men running into one another at the velocity of a minor car accident is nothing short of amazing; however, hearing debilitating stories of fan favorites from yesteryear not being able to tie their shoes or check their own mailbox is numbing.

Or in the case of Junior Seau, hearing a player ended his own life because of brain trauma helps put everything in context. The issue reaches as far down to the Pee-Wee level with parents and current players like Bart Scott even questioning whether letting their kids risk head injuries resulting from the sport is even worth the potential heartache.

In any event, McMahon’s situation is one of thousands detailing a problem the league will never truly come to a suitable conclusion on. There’s too many “he said, he said” factors bubbling on the surface. And it’s one of those situations where we realize a group of men gave their body and mind to an art form which in turn took damn near everything from them.

Charge it to the game, literally, I suppose.

Bonus: Outside The Lines did a special on McMahon back in March, which happens to be a 10-minute watch well worth the time.

From 2000-10 37 high school players died. Players ain’t just dropping like flies in training camp across the country. The term “little monster” leads me to believe his kid is young and this is his first year. If it’s anything how it is in California he only playing with other first year kids. Ain’t none of them hitting hard enough to be seriously injured.

Chris, I don’t think that you are seeing the big picture. It’s not just death it’s injuries that could happen. Things that could set them back for life. Right now I just don’t feel comfortable putting my kid out there. I do love football but I love my kids well being more.

He’s still young and hasn’t started playing but he has been exposed to the sport thru family that are coaches, so he’s going to high school games, pro games, etc. He likes it and is interested in it.

Not saying he’s that one in a million who could make it on a pro level, but I’d be leery of starting him on that path as well. It is something you have to consider IF you’ve been paying close attention to the developing stories & research. I have, not just this year but for the past 5-6 years.

Gotty: There is nothing wrong with this hesitation. With many former and current players questioning whether they would let their own children play football, why shouldn’t we? After listening to Bill’s Simmons BS Report with Chris Nowinski, I did more research on this. I personally will not let me son play football. The problem is that there isn’t research on younger children and head injuries, we only see on adults, but a childs brain is so much different than adults, not only in its shape, size, connections, but especially it’s biochemistry.

This is sad news, and being a huge fan of the sport, I find myself struggling with explaining the morality of continuing to watch. We can all chalk this up to another sign of aging: watching yet another former famous football player have the debilitating suffering of people who are decades more their senior. Jim McMahon was not a great quarterback. But he is most certainly beloved because of his attitude toward the game. He was the leader of a cast of characters that in all of our collective memories, and more importantly in reality, that was great.

Idk, at 32, I’m too young to have watched Earl Campbell or John Mackey play. There was a time when I could explain it away, as in, “That was years ago, the game was rougher and the players were less protected then.” But now, when you hear about things like Jim McMahon, or the Junior Seau and Andre Waters tragedies — tragedies that are affecting players that I grew up watching — well, now it can’t really be explained away. Now begins the struggle. Choosing refs at the risk of player safety didn’t help the cause, either. smh…

I missed this post initially, but if you can make it in a sport other than football (basketball, baseball)… play those games… non-contact, guaranteed salaries, and much larger salaries at that.

And I say the above with football being my favorite sport and having family and numerous friends play at the NFL level – one family member was actually a starter on the 85 Bears team with Jim at a prominent position. A close family friend has 3 SB rings and was a starter on a dynasty team. And do you know how much he made (total) during his career? 3 million dollars – TOTAL. He cannot live off of what he made during his career he still must work. A baseball or basketball player with those same credentials and rings, as a starter (not someone who came off of the bench) and who was responsible with their money, does not have to do much after their careers end. The pay scale is very different.

I have a couple of family members who currently play MLB and one of my closest friends was a pitcher in the majors (before numerous Tommy John surgeries ended his career). Do you know how much they made/make? The former baseball player friend does not have to get out and grind – the former 3x SB champ, does. I understand if you just love a specific sport, but just like Jim, once it is all over, I am sure most NFL players look back… and if they could have played another sport at a high level (we are talking comparable levels of play – Primetime/Bo Jackson good – not a would be starter in football and a bench player in the other sport)… they probably would have gone the other route. But hindsight is 20/20.